Giant granadilla - Passiflora quadrangularis: Hi Nontheist Friends, In reference to the God-word as a connector ... I was just at a Stanford Law School event yesterday to hear a talk about "How Can We Protect the Internet Against Surveillance?," A lot of hungry bellies to feed in the world, and I observed that even with such hunger, many people in the developing world - the poor part of the world - have mobile phones, in my experience, Seeking high achieving online undergraduate students for free, MIT OCW-centric WUaS

Hi Nontheist Friends, 

In reference to the God-word as a connector ... 

I was just at a Stanford Law School event yesterday to hear a talk about "How Can We Protect the Internet Against Surveillance?" by Australian Peter Eckersley of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF - https://www.eff.org/) in San Francisco. You'll find his slide presentation here - https://www.eff.org/files/surveillance-todos.pdf - as well as here at the Surveillance page at WUaS - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Surveillance ... see too the WUAS "Privacy" and "Security" pages for this and other resources from Eckersley and others. 

Peter's and the EFF's message is protect oneself online as much as possible, with the above steps, such as downloading https-everywhere -https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere . 

At the end of the talk, an African American minister came up to ask Peter a question in person, as is the custom at Stanford Law events for interested individuals, and he asked what the ethics are at the EFF ... libertarian, progressive, legal ... were three answers, and Peter said that personally he is a consequentialist, in a utilitarian tradition. 

I had asked a question earlier about how I assume the "Nation State" always wins vis-a-vis security and surveillance questions and the individual or citizen, how a hypothetical MIT top programmer can theoretically outcode or hack most privacy technologies, and when the "Nation State" or such programmers can't penetrate, for example, TOR or https:// , the State (e,g, the US, Sweden or Japan etc.) has thought through various approaches to deal with such contingencies. I also assume all 242 Nation States ( http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nation_States ) talk with one another in one way or another vis-a-vis such internet surveillance questions ... probably in very very haphazard ways ... but theirs is the winning discourse ... My question was, given these ASSUMPTIONS, how does Peter see the conversation between these nation states developing? He mentioned metaphorically the "Treaty of Westphalia" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia - where the sovereignty of principalities as emergent nation states triumphed over empire in Europe in the early 1600s.

I gave Peter a Quaker-informed MIT OCW-centric World University and School flyer (http://scottmacleod.com/WUaSFlyerArchive.html) and mentioned WUaS's plans for law schools in all 242 countries where WUaS faculty would teach about such questions in courses, as well as talk amongst each other across languages and countries ... with an interest in networking with him vis-a-vis Australia and especially in terms of all the Aboriginal languages in Australia - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Languages - with WUaS's plans for developing wiki schools in all 7,105 languages; Wikipedia is in more than 300 languages and MIT OCW is in at least 8 non-English languages (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/translated-courses/), by way of comparison. 

Later outside the room at the foot of the main stairwell near Rm 280b, I started to talk with the minister, Pastor George Murray, and mentioned Friendly-informed World University and School, free degrees, the possibility of anyone teaching to their web camera at WUaS, and our seeking high achieving high school students next autumn. 

I also mentioned how I was active with Quakers in SF, but not that I was active with NtFs. 

An African American minister at Stanford Law, he went on to say praise God a number of times in a number of ways, as a manner of connecting and vis-a-vis WUaS, gave me his card, said his church in the US is the largest African American church in the country, and that he would like to collaborate in any way possible. I said I'd add him to the WUaS monthly business meeting email list. 

He had also said there are a lot of hungry bellies to feed in the world, and I observed that even with such hunger, many people in the developing world - the poor part of the world - have mobile phones, in my experience, and also that it would be interesting to complement satiating a hunger for food with satiating the hunger for knowledge-generation and education and the benefits this brings to societies.

But I didn't say I question the language of God, the divine etc ... because I think I understood where he was coming from, and his well-being, with his God language, and he where I was coming from, having mentioned being active with Quakers, as well as my sharing about Friendly-informed WUaS with open wiki schools in all languages, and with free university degrees planned for large languages, and all of this especially for the developing world. 

I was amazed by the insight gleaned from our conversation that God is such a connecting word for some, for many ... for some African Americans, as well as for some whites, and many others in the Rainbow of this world, in this country, and in some other parts of the world ... and I'd like to affirm such connecting possibilities for sharing good will, while continuing to develop nontheistically Friendly thinking, and in conversation.

I'm going to stay in touch with Reverend (Superintendent and Pastor) George Murray, potentially in seeking high achieving online undergraduate students for free, MIT OCW-centric WUaS, among other things. And perhaps Pastor Murray might come into conversation with NtFs on this email list, or even in this NtF wiki school at WUaS ... http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F) .

Friendly regards, 

Scott

...

Passiflora Loefgrenii: "Quakernomics: An Ethical Capitalism" by Mike King, "Sir Adrian Cadbury reflects on properly constituted audit committees and boardroom self-evaluation," Article on Cooperatives by Chris Kell in "the Friend" in England, MIT OCW-centric Business Management wiki subject, Quakers, Cooperatives, Relevance to WUaS

Dear Elizabeth, and greetings, Friends,

Thanks for sharing about this book on "Quakernomics: An Ethical Capitalism" by Mike King, which I've added as a reference to the Quakers' wiki subject page - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Quakers_-_Religious_Society_of_Friends - at Friendly-informed World University and School, which is like Wikipedia with MIT OpenCourseWare, (planned for all 7,105 languages and 242 countries, and for accredited MIT-centric, Creative Commons' licensed university degrees in large languages; MIT OCW is in at least 8 non-English languages, and Wikipedia is in at least 300 languages).

I also added "Quakernomics: 

An Ethical Capitalism

" to the Business Management wiki Subject page for open teaching and learning at WUaS - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Business_Management - with its many MIT OCW and Yale OYC courses + , and with an invitation to edit or begin a WUaS wiki subject page - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects - in a business related subject.

To both pages, I've also added a video with Sir Adrian Cadbury on board governance and boardroom self-evaluation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfC7ykLKy4M - from the Cambridge Judge Business School Youtube channel.

Friendly-informed WUaS is seeking its first undergraduate applicants this autumn 2014 to matriculate online for free MIT-centric degrees in autumn 2014. WUaS seeks to become the Harvard / MIT / Cambridge / Oxford / Haverford / Swarthmore of the Internet.

Thanks again.

With F/friendly greetings, 

Scott

* http://scottmacleod.com ...

* http://scottmacleod.com/interlingual/worlduniversityandschool.html ...

* http://worlduniversityandschool.blogspot.com/search/label/Business%20Meeting

*

Sir Adrian Cadbury reflects on properly constituted audit committees and boardroom self-evaluation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfC7ykLKy4M

*

Hi Elizabeth, and greetings, Friends,

Thanks for sharing this article on Cooperatives by Chris Kell, which I added as a reference to the Cooperatives' wiki subject page at Friendly-informed World University and School, which is like Wikipedia with MIT OpenCourseWare, (planned for all 7,105 languages and 242 countries, and for accredited MIT-centric, Creative Commons' licensed university degrees in large languages). The San Francisco Friends' Meeting library doesn't subscribe to "the Friend" but I was able to find and read it otherwise.

Here's the wiki Subject page for open teaching and learning at WUaS on Cooperatives - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Cooperatives - with just two MIT OCW courses in related areas, and an invitation to edit or begin a WUaS wiki subject page - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects.

Thanks.

With F/friendly greetings, 
Scott

*

...

Passiflora alata: Plan loving bliss neurophysiology eliciting daily and naturally ... because they're some of the best experiences and best qualities of brain and bodymind chemistry in life? Loving Bliss (eliciting this neurophysiology) wiki subject page at WUaS, "Loving Bliss Practices" ... "Guidelines for practicing loving bliss vis-à-vis practicing a musical instrument," See John Money on Lovemaps, "Caring and Loving" wiki subject page at WUaS, So what would be some possible plans? Much fun social music generation per day?, Contextualize these explorations within evolutionary biology, And to begin with baby steps, And for flourishing with this over decades? Ongoing communication and conversation with friends? To Loving Bliss Eliciting, Caring and Loving and Philosophy wiki pages at WUaS

In what ways could we plan loving bliss neurophysiology eliciting daily and naturally ... because they're some of the best experiences and best qualities of {brain and bodymind chemistry} experience in life?


Loving Bliss (eliciting this neurophysiology) wiki subject page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Loving_Bliss_(eliciting_this_neurophysiology) ...


Here are some beginnings ...

Loving Bliss Practices ...
http://scottmacleod.com/LovingBlissPractices.htm ...

Guidelines for practicing loving bliss vis-à-vis practicing a musical instrument ...
http://scottmacleod.com/GuidelinesPracticingLovingBlissvavMusicalInstrument.htm ...


*

It seems that finding, and also generating, reciprocal lovemaps would be important, in terms of eliciting loving bliss sexually, especially, as one of many qualities ... see John Money on Lovemaps ...
http://scottmacleod.com/JohnMoneyLovemaps.html ...


*

And, for me, care is important in such explorations, as well ...

"Caring and Loving" wiki subject page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Caring_and_Loving ...


*

So what would be some possible plans?

Two hours of intimacy in the morning having communicated about respective {and respectful:} lovemaps?


Much fun social music generation every day, as well as listening ... with specific focuses ?


*

... seems sensible to contextualize, and understand, these explorations within evolutionary biology, and people as human primates, as well as within modernity, and, for me, California and west coast culture of North America ...


*

And to begin with baby steps in these planning for daily loving bliss eliciting processes ...

... {and what happens if and after babies emerge in the case of the above, for some :}?


And for flourishing with this over decades? Ongoing communication and conversation with friends?


*

How to develop this as a kind of course, even, at World University and School, and at the university level?


*

added this blog entry to ...

Loving Bliss (eliciting this neurophysiology) wiki subject page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Loving_Bliss_(eliciting_this_neurophysiology)

Caring and Loving wiki subject page at WUaS ...

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Caring_and_Loving 

and to the MIT OCW-centric, Philosophy wiki subject page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy#World_University_and_School_Links ...

to inform and contribute perhaps to a new conversation in philosophy.

*

... 

Scottish Wildcat: Here are PM Donald MacLeod and John MacFadyen in Scotland in an interview about composing Ceol Mor, or Piobaireachd, a Piobaireachd (Pibroch) he composed and plays, Having time to compose piping music in Hawaii, Great Ceol Mor by Donald MacPherson, Hugh MacCallum, John MacDonald of Inverness, Robert Wallace, Ronnie MacShannon, Seumas MacNeill, Stuart Liddell

Here are PM Donald MacLeod and John MacFadyen in Scotland in an interview about composing Piobaireachd, a Piobaireachd he composed and plays (from the College of Piping) ...

Ceol Mor

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/


Donald MacLeod

Cronan Padruig Seumas, intro J MacFadyen, 1970s

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/pm-donald-macleod/


... and where Donald MacLeod mentions how great it would be to have the time to live in Hawaii for a spell to compose. I attended a few bagpiping summer schools in North Carolina, right before the Grandfather Highland Games, in the mid-1970s where John MacFadyen came from Scotland to teach. Interesting insights into Scottish culture, Piobaireachd music and thinking.


*

I'm adding this contemporary Piobaireachd composed and played by Donald to the Piobaireachd page at WUaS -

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Pibroch,_Piobaireachd_or_Ce%C3%B2l_M%C3%B3r -

along with these other interesting interpreters of Piobaireachd from the CoP archive.



Donald MacPherson -

Sisters Lament, winning tune, Oban, 1986

Lady MacDonald’s Lament

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/donald-macpherson/



Hugh MacCallum -

Nameless, Hihio tro tro, Oban, 1986

Too Long in this Condition ~ Edinburgh 1970′s

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/hugh-maccallum/



John MacDonald of Inverness -

Lament for Patrick Og, ground

Wee Spree, ground

Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon, ground and var. 1

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/john-macdonald-inverness/



Robert Wallace -

Lament for the Viscount of Dundee (ground), 2002


His Fathers Lament for Donald MacKenzie, ground,  2003


Salute on the Birth, opening of new CoP building, 2003


Beinn a Ghrain, ground and var.1, 2005


Nameless, Cherede Darievea, ground, 2007

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/robert-wallace/



Ronnie MacShannon -

Beloved Scotland, 1986

Kintarbert’s Fancy, 1988

Lament for Captain MacDougall, 1986

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/ronnie-macshannon/



Seumas MacNeill -

An Introduction to Ceol Mor

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/seumas-macneill/

Stuart Liddell -

Lament for Colin Roy MacKenzie, Echoes of Oban, 2012

http://www.collegeofpiping.org/museum/sound-archive/ceol-mor/stuart-liddell/

*

http://www.scottishwildcats.co.uk/

...

Mouflon: far-reaching "2014 State of the Valley" talk by Sal Khan recently - fundraising, Pedagogy and the big picture, Sal's teaching to his young cousin is a good example of how YOU can teach on the web and at WUaS in any language, WUaS is looking forward to collaborating with Khan Academy, Google, The Gates Foundation and so many more philanthropic, entrepreneurial organizations, In what ways can WUaS explore and test ways in which Khan Academy pedagogical approaches will work in the developing world differentially in terms of culture and language, and from country to country, and especially vis-a-vis MIT OCW-centric High School, WUaS's free, online IB school first in United Nations' languages, and then possibly in large languages?

Hi Universitians, 

Here's a far-reaching "State of the Valley" talk by Sal Khan recently in Silicon Valley summing up Khan Academy, including about their fund-raising (e.g. $10,000 from Ann Doerr, then $100,000 from Ann Doerr, then $2 million from Google and the Gates' Foundation, then ...) and especially pedagogical methods, as well as the big-picture of Khan Academy in terms of the social justice of universal education and the developing world ... Check it out ... This was also on KQED SF 88.5 Thursday evening!

2014 State of the Valley - Salman Khan Keynote Speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGEioNiW5dA

http://www.kqed.org/a/radiospecials/R201404242000

Will add this to WUaS, - and WUaS is looking forward to collaborating with Khan Academy, Google, The Gates Foundation and so many more philanthropic, entrepreneurial organizations.

Scott

*

Sal's teaching to his young cousin on the web with video is a good example of how YOU can teach on the web and at WUaS in any language.

Begin teaching to your web camera now here, and add what you teach here - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Subjects.


*

In what ways can WUaS help explore, study and test ways in which Khan Academy pedagogical approaches will work, and help with highest quality online education, in the developing world differentially in terms of culture and language, and from country to country ...

and especially vis-a-vis MIT OCW-centric High School, WUaS's free, online IB school first in United Nations' languages, and then possibly in large languages?

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/WUaS_International_Baccalaureate_Diploma_and_Programme

...

Native wild sheep: Quite good, this ... and with innovative bagpiping and with a kind of folk rock band ... "Scott Wood Band - Looking Through Portnahaven," "Sheep Running About," Great Highland Bagpipe ... Celtic Music ... Folk Rock ... Improvisation wiki page at WUaS ...

Quite good, this ... and with innovative bagpiping, and with a kind of folk rock band from Edinburgh ...

Scott Wood Band - Looking Through Portnahaven

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KIYq0nqIxM

Scott Wood Band - Sheep Running About

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQ-OkPUuNs


*

... adding them to

Great Highland Bagpipe wiki page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Highland_Bagpipe

Celtic Music wiki page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Celtic_Music

Folk Rock wiki page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Folk_rock_music

Improvisation wiki page at WUaS ...
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Improvisation


*

Very nice as well ...

'The Scott Wood Trio - Piping Live! 2013 Launch'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR0ul6e0nhs

*

...

Biodiversity: Innovation newsletters for each wiki subject page, language page, country page, etc ... and in all languages and countries ... to share new innovations on each page ... Biodiversity SemanticWiki project with a museum in Berlin ... Good description of how SemanticWiki works ...

Good idea ...

With each wiki subject page at WUaS, we've long had the plan to create a community with email lists -
e.g. http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/SUBJECT_TEMPLATE#Select_Communities.2C_Email_lists.2C_etc. and "Create EMail group for page" in the "Digital to Do" section of the main "Navigation" section - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/SUBJECT_TEMPLATE#Digital_To_Do - (all accessible here -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/SUBJECT_TEMPLATE) - but in talking with a friend at Harbin today, WUaS, as we move to Wikidata and Wikibase, may plan to allow interested people to


1.

add their email addresses to each wiki page they're interested in ...

e.g.

to the Biodiversity Studies' email subscribe field -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Biodiversity_Studies -

or the Quantum Physics' email subscribe field -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Quantum_Physics -

or the Media Lab at World University and School email subscribe field -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Media_Lab_at_World_University_and_School.


2.

and then

perhaps invite graduate student instructors, or possibly anyone, to create a regular newsletter, or email postings whenever, with the most innovative, exciting and inspiring developments on each WUaS wiki page ... {in addition to fascinating MIT OCW courses} ...

such as, for example, a 'gecko' skin invention which sticks to walls, and holds computers there, which could have been designed and developed at the Media Lab at WUaS ...


*

This could lead to a flourishing of each page in terms of innovation and creating, and the development of a growing community of innovators for each ...


*

Good description of how SemanticWiki works in this project ...

Hi Daniel, 

I added all of your "pro-iBiosphere" project reference ... 

Mietchen, Daniel, Sabrina Eckert, Soraya Sierra, Scott Edmunds, David King, Gregor Hagedorn. 2014. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/133szlTaabYakEeR6JF6FFYsDJH-bLdSgDby86XPxPDk/edit# pro-iBiosphere - Coordination & policy development in preparation for a European Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System, addressing Acquisition, Curation, Synthesis, Interoperability & Dissemination Proposal]. Berlin, DE: pro-ibiosphere.eu/. ... 

to the Biodiversity Studies' wiki subject page (a beginning, online, great universities-centric school, and part of CC MIT OCW-centric World University and School, planned for all 7,105 languages and 242 countries, in Wikidata, SemanticWiki and qLabel etc. - Wikipedia is in more than 300 languages and MIT OCW Translated Courses are in more than 8) with accredited university degrees planned in larger languages, here ... 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Biodiversity_Studies.

WUaS is very interested in developing in SemanticWiki, as well as in Wikidata, to integrate such projects as yours. 

(I'm not posting this email to the whole Wikidata list, since although this is an email about a Wikidata coding possibility, the guidelines for mentioning some but not all non-Wikidata/Wikimedia projects on this list aren't clear to me. Could you please possibly let me know what are the guidelines Lydia?).  

I'm also including Markus in this email since he's the founder of SemanticWiki. 

Thanks for this interesting project, and these online data integration possibilities.

Best regards,

Scott

...

Mountain sweet pitcher plant: Listen to this amazing quartet!!! ... "Rising Star Quartet" ... Loving their musicality and passion :) ... Added this here at WUaS: "Singing Harmony" and "Barber Shop Quartet Singing" wiki pages, How to go from this quartet to musical notation to Great Highland Bagpipe piping notation to tweaking the notation to a piping quartet ... and the other way to a vocal quartet from piping music ...? Fertile grounds for exploration ... and which software for all these musical transpositions? Is the free software MuseScore, which has GHB music 'register' (accessible at Music Composition at WUaS here - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Composition) good for this? In what ways would MIT OCW-centric WUaS, like Wikipedia with MIT OCW, be able to collaborate with both Sabhal Mòr Ostaig the college taught in Scottish Gaelic on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and with MIT OCW Translated Courses? Scottish Gaelic language, and the beginning of an online MIT OCW-centric Scots' Gaelic WUaS ... http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic

Listen to this amazing quartet!!! ...

Rising Star Quartet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dawvJWpfBD8


added this here at WUaS:

Singing Harmony -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Singing_Harmony

Barber Shop Quartet Singing -
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Barber_Shop_Quartet_Singing


*

How to go from this quartet to musical notation to Great Highland Bagpipe piping notation to tweaking the notation to a piping quartet ... and the other way to a vocal quartet from piping music ...? Fertile grounds for exploration ... looking to play pipes as a quartet transcendentally musically ... and which software for all these musical transpositions?


*

Will add this blog entry here:

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Bagpipe_Tutorials


*

Is the free software MuseScore, which has GHB music 'register' (accessible at Music Composition at WUaS here -  http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Composition) good for this?

http://musescore.org/

Schweer, Werner. 2013. [http://www.musescore.org/ MuseScore]. (Available in 20 languages). (Free music composition and notation software; WYSIWYG, notes are entered on a "virtual note sheet"; Unlimited number of staves; Up to four voices per staff; Easy and fast note entry with mouse, keyboard or MIDI; Integrated sequencer and FluidSynth software synthesizer; Import and export of MusicXML and Standard MIDI Files (SMF); Platform independent code, binaries available for Windows, Mac - e.g. Snow Leopard 6.8 - and Linux). musescore.org.


*


In a loosely related vein, I wonder in what ways MIT OCW-centric WUaS, like Wikipedia with MIT OCW, would be able to collaborate with both Sabhal Mòr Ostaig - http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/en/ - and - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabhal_M%C3%B2r_Ostaig - the college taught in Scottish Gaelic on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and with MIT OCW Translated Courses - http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/translated-courses/. (See the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig links below, too).

Scottish Gaelic language, and the beginning of an online MIT OCW-centric Scots' Gaelic WUaS ... 

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic ...

to which I'll add this blog link ... 

* 

...

Clematis viticaulis: "A Rationalist’s Mystical Moment," Hi NtFs, Enjoyed (fellow Reedie) Barbara Ehrenreich's writing style and focus on neurochemistry, as well as consciousness, in her article, In what ways is it possible to rif with "landscapes," like musical scores, or rif with people, as blues musicians might with each other, but bodymind-to-bodymind (metaphorically musically, for example, for certain kinds of neurophysiology is a related question I'm ongoingly engaging, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology, Consciousness and NtF (Atheist Quakers?) wiki pages at WUaS), Barbara Ehrenreich's Collected Papers online at Harvard

A Rationalist’s Mystical Moment

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/opinion/sunday/a-rationalists-mystical-moment.html

Hi Nontheist Friends,

Enjoyed (fellow Reedie) Barbara Ehrenreich's writing style and focus on neurochemistry, as well as on consciousness, in her article opening this thread. 

Enjoyed, too, in the 1970s the mysticism of Howard Brinton (in "Friends for 300 Years" and Pendle Hill Pamphlets) and other Friends/Quakers (also informed by the 1960s) as well as the mysticism of Christmas Humphrey's "The Goose is Out," "The Sutra of Hui Neng," "The Diamond Sutra," "The Upanishads," "The Way of Chuang Tzu" (now Zhuangzi) by Thomas Merton, and the "Tao te Ching" by Lao Tzu (now Laozi) ... all very freeing ... enjoyment-wise even somehow ... and all examples of a great mystical {and wisdom} literature. 

Lots of freedom and enjoyment in mysticism thinking ... and Friends offer in ongoing ways the social practices of Quaker Meeting and Business Meeting and, as I see it, a process for 'grounding' such free-thinkings, freedom-thinkings and freeing-texts ... (I was pretty happy and free as a teenager in the '70s, and a fairly free-spirited Reed College student in the first half of 1980s, - and a Religion major there, perhaps influenced to be so by these texts).

Although I don't engage the concepts of mysticism these days too much, I'm ongoingly interested in related neurophysiology, and especially vis-a-vis eliciting loving bliss neurophysiology, which I might have called for myself in retrospect kinds of mystical or religious experiences in the 70s ... MDMA (ecstasy) is a reference experience here on the biology of intense love side of things, and perhaps LSD could be seen as one on the mystical side of things ... certainly folks in 1960s-informed mysticism engaged both of these chemical substances, and rationally (e.g. by making these substances, etc) ...

In what ways is it possible to rif with "landscapes," like improvising on musical scores, or to rif with people, as Blues' musicians might with each other while playing, but bodymind-to-bodymind {metaphorically musically}, for example, for certain kinds of neurophysiology is a related question I'm ongoingly engaging, for example ... e.g.

 http://scottmacleod.com/GuidelinesPracticingLovingBlissvavMusicalInstrument.htm ? To what degree, and in what ways, does this happen already in Friends' Meetings, as well?

I think the words rationalist and mysticism come together interestingly, vis-a-vis NTFs, and can be a focus of inquiry and study, in the distinction between this beginning 'Neurophysiology' wiki page for open teaching and learning -

 http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Neurophysiology - and this beginning Neurobiology wiki page -

 http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Neurobiology#World_University_and_School_Links - which is more oriented to creative MIT-centric neuroscience (and which distinction is one I make here at WUaS, because I'm interested in both, and made these pages). {See, too, the beginning 'Consciousness' wiki subject at WUaS -

 http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Consciousness}.

As I write in the open ideas' section of the Neurophysiology wiki page : 

"By neurophysiology, I'm interested in exploring both the biochemical changes caused by such substances as omega-3 fatty acids, as well as MDMA, for example, - both subjectively (i.e. what are the benefits of these that people can feel, and the variety of ways they report these?), as well as clinically and scientifically, - especially vis-a-vis pleasure and enjoyment. Neurobiology, at WUaS, by contrast, is the study (MIT Brain Science-informed) of the biology of the brain."

NtFs, freed to some degree from God-centrism especially in the context of F/friends/Quakers, and related thinking-limitations, are certainly beginning to explore questions here in this thread on neuroscience (Barbara Ehrenreich's article), and rationally vis-a-vis what for some might be characterizations of peak mystical experiences, for example, yet in new ways ... 

Glad we can have this discussion (and also perhaps consider critically in this light the Friendly somewhat problematic words for me like "worship," "prayer," "spirituality" etc. ) in the light of mysticism, - which now for me here has become an exploration of ways in which Friends might elicit very enjoyable brain or bodymind states of being and a variety of kinds of consciousness. 

I hope these wiki pages (schools, in a sense) can be an expression of inclusiveness, which Oz referred to above, as well. 

Thanks for this thread ...

Scott

PS

I may add this email as a blog post to the Nontheist Friends' (Atheist Quakers?) wiki school here ... http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F) ... 

*

Hi NtF's 

Here are some further Barbara Ehrenreich resources ...

http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=sch01203 ...

re the NYT's article which Claire shared ... 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/opinion/sunday/a-rationalists-mystical-moment.html .

I haven't begun to explore them for questions of rational mysticism or her hard-core atheism. 

I added this email I sent above as a blog post - 

"Clematis viticaulis: "A Rationalist’s Mystical Moment," Hi NtFs, Enjoyed (fellow Reedie) Barbara Ehrenreich's writing style and focus on neurochemistry, as well as consciousness, in her article, In what ways is it possible to rif with "landscapes," like musical scores, or rif with people, as blues musicians might with each other, but bodymind-to-bodymind (metaphorically musically, for example, for certain kinds of neurophysiology is a related question I'm ongoingly engaging, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology, Consciousness and NtF (Atheist Quakers?) wiki pages at WUaS)

http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2014/04/clematis-viticaulis-rationalists.html "

... to the beginning 'Nontheist Friends' (Atheist Quakers?) wiki school here' -  http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Nontheist_Friends_(atheist_Quakers%3F) ... 

Friendly greetings, 

Scott

*

...